Five artists begin residencies at Tower View

Five creative individuals — writers, a photographer and a sculptor/painter — comprise the first group selected for the 2012 artist residency program at the Anderson Center at Tower View.

The center received approximately 170 applications for the summer program, Director Robert Hedin said.

“The quality of the applicant pool was very high, and we accepted 35 artists, writers and scholars from 11 states and the countries of Austria, Canada, China, Algeria, Estonia and Sweden,” he said.

In addition to working on their individual projects while in Red Wing for two to four weeks, all of the artists, writers and scholars also participate in a community service activity.

The May group will visit schools and local organizations.

Rich Orloff, playwright

A writer from New York City, Rich Orloff will spend the month working on a new political play, “Chatting with the Tea Party.” He described it as a “nonfiction play” based on interviews he has conducted around the country at Tea Party events.

Orloff will continue talking to people through the November election. While in Red Wing he will research the Minnesota Tea Party and talk with locals.

Orloff, who started his writing career in Arkansas as a newspaper reporter, is a prolific author of one-act and 10-minute plays which have received more than 800 productions on six continents. He also travels the country giving lectures and workshops.

Community service: Red Wing Women’s Network.

Vishwas Gaitonde, fiction writer

Widely published in books, literary journals, newspapers and magazines, Vishwas Gaitonde of San Diego, Calif., plans to spend the month beginning a novel about a young gay man in South India seeking love despite the threat of ostracism and criminal prosecution.

“India’s gay and lesbian community has been closeted for over 150 years,” he said.

Gaitonde has published and edited books about AIDS and tuberculosis in addition to numerous fictional works, shorter nonfiction pieces and book reviews.

Community service: PFLAG.

Norbert Marklin, photographer

@Normal1: Images of the past fascinate Norbert Marklin, a Minnesotan who is working on a series, “New Historicals,” in which he places and ages structures in a way that embodies their history. Three of the panoramic images are from his December 2010 visit to Red Wing, including one of Tower View.

In May he will capture more local images and research the structures and places at the Goodhue County History Center.

Marklin’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions, mostly in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and can be found in collections including the office of the Minneapolis mayor and the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota. He created a 16-foot photo mural in the St. Paul Landmark Center.

Community service: Red Wing Photography Club.

Andrew L. Palmer, fiction/nonfiction writer

Andrew Palmer will spend his residency completing a draft of his first novel, which tells the story of a man’s life through his relationships with women.

Each chapter stands alone — three of them have been or will be published — but narrative threads tie them together as a novel.

Palmer, who lives in Des Moines, was educated at Carleton College in Northfield and currently works as an online teaching assistant for the University of Maryland University College. He has been a producer for MPR’s “The Writer’s Almanac,” a teaching fellow, a literary magazine editor and a freelancer.

Community service: Northfield High School.

Nicole M. Gibbs, sculptor/painter

During a two-week residency, Nicole Gibbs of Columbus, Ohio, will focus on producing elements that she later will incorporate in a 5-by-10-foot “pennant” collage — her largest to date.

The completed work will be shown in a solo exhibition in August at the Oregon College of Art & Craft in Portland. She uses clay, fabric dye, iron acetate and traditional drawing materials to create compositions on irregularly torn paper, creating a timeline.

Gibbs, whose original art history degree was from Hamline University in St. Paul, has shown her work in solo and group exhibitions in Oregon, Minnesota, New York and several other states. She is on the adjunct faculty of Columbus College and is a frequent lecturer, visiting artist and instructor.

Community service: Red Wing High School.

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